HeartBreakKid wrote:Rapcity_11 wrote:HeartBreakKid wrote:I mean there is one thing that kind of blows up that entire narrative.
The Bucks could have gotten better? I mean that seems like a pretty big detail to miss out.
The Heat were not a fluke...not sure how they benefited from the bubble more than anyone else. It's the same handicap for everyone, if they're a fluke then so are the Lakers.
The Heat were 15-22 on the road last year. They literally benefited more than anyone else, considering they had HCA is none of the series.
I'm well aware, that still doesn't give an objective handicap advantage. They all go into the bubble with the same rules, and if anything neutral fans would make it more balanced.
Not to mention the Heat had Bam (3rd year, raw), Duncan (2nd year), Herro (1st year) and Nunn (1st year, injured in bubble).
So naturally a lot of those Heat players improved during the hiatus prior to the bubble. I'm not sure how "THEY SUCK ON THE ROAD, GOT LUCKY" is the primary narrative and not the fact that they had 4 super young players who likely just improved considerably with their time to practice.
Their rookies essentially became 2nd year players, and Bam essentially entered his prime. In other words, the Heat were better than their record because....they literally became better players. Nothing flukeish about players working hard on their craft, while some players in the NBA decided not to touch a basketball prior to the bubble. That's quite the opposite of a fluke.
Either way, the idea that a team won 14 games in the playoffs are a FLUKE team totally undermines what the word fluke even means.
It literally is an objective handicap advantage for all teams with negative home/road splits. All of a sudden, the Heat has ZERO roads games. That's a MASSIVE factor. Does anyone honestly think they make the finals if they have to play road games?
The theory about 2nd year players, Bam, etc. completely falls apart considering how they played this year in the RS and the PS.
